Atrial arrhythmia after surgical closure of atrial septal defects in adults

People with atrial septal defects should have surgery to close the defect while they are still young adults. Atrial septal defects are openings in the thin wall of tissue that separates the two atria in the heart. This allows blood to flow between the atria, and this can cause serious problems including arrhythmias. Researchers analyzed the rate of arrhythmia in 213 adults who had surgery to close an atrial septal defect. The most common risk factor for arrhythmia was age over 40 years old. Many patients continued to have arrhythmias after surgery.